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Google is to acquire Nik Software, the German company behind a number of successful photography apps for Windows, Mac and iPhone.

Its most famous, perhaps, is Snapseed, the hugely successful iOS application that allows users to add vintage and toy camera effects and instantly touch-up images, much like a certain rival piece of software now owned by Facebook.

Indeed, like Instagram, you can post the end results straight to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and, er, Instagram. Some might even say that Snapseed offers more options and functionality.

Nik Software was known to be working on an Android version of the application, but what's the betting that, once the acquisition goes through, it doesn't find itself integrated into a future build of the operating system? Certainly, owning Snapseed will give Google another tool that runs in direct competition with a Facebook feature.

However, he did also claim that, unlike Google, the social network has no plans to manufacturer its own mobile phone, rather integrate its software into others, including the iPhone. That, once iOS 6 is released on 19 September, is something Google will no longer be able to claim.